15. Joonas Donskoi (76.5 pts)
Rounding out the bottom of the top 15, the 27-year-old Finn has only had four full seasons of NHL experience. On average, he plays in 70.75 games, scores 30.5 points (11.25 Goals and 19.25 Assists), and has a +/- of 4.75 per season. He isn’t electrifying or game breaking, but, at 6’0” 190lbs, he has pretty explosive speed, excellent stickhandling/puck control (being dubbed a “Shootout Specialist”), and works hard at both ends. Where he can improve is his ability to finish.
Looking at highlights of Joonas Donskoi, he frequently puts himself in good positions to score, typically on the back door of the crease or where he could be sprung for a breakaway.
Being on San Jose, he doesn’t have plenty of opportunities to score more (averaging 14:04 TOI/game over his four seasons) with Joe Pavelski, Evander Kane, Tomas Hertl, Logan Couture, Timo Meir, Gustav Nyquist, Joe Thorton, and Kevin Labanc all registering more time. He typically played on the 2nd or 3rd line with either Hertl and Kane or Nyquist and Thornton. San Jose has been a solid team recently, making the Stanley Cup Final in 2016 and making the playoffs for four straight seasons, losing in either the first or second in the other two, and is now tied with Colorado 2-2 in their series.
Joonas Donskoi most resembles Ryan Dzingel and (ironically enough) Mikael Granlund. He can use his body a little bit better than these two and doesn’t seem to shy away from contact as Granny used to. Donskoi made the top 15 largely because of his age, the number of games he played and is conveniently right-handed. With his lackluster resume of scoring, he doesn’t convince me he can solve the Wild’s need for goals. After reviewing him, I’m unsure if the elite scoring ability is there, but with only four seasons of experience, he may develop into a more clutch scorer. If I were Fenton and decided to pursue him, I would offer him about $1.7-$1.9 Million per year over two years. It’s a similar average annual value he had in San Jose and it’s on a short enough deal that if he doesn’t pan out, he can easily be moved.
Donskoi hasn’t played from taking this hit from Brayden McNabb